Oceanside council approves new skatepark

Goal is to open park in late 2013

Construction of a $1 million skate park which supporters said would be the envy of skaters throughout Southern California was approved by the Oceanside City Council Wednesday.

“It’s going to be a great park for Oceanside,” said city project manager Nathan Mertz, who was a skateboarding enthusiast in his youth.

“This will be something that will allow beginners to learn and polish their skills as well as seasoned professionals to show off their skills,” Mertz said.

The council voted 4-0 to approve construction of the park with Councilman Jerry Kern absent.

Councilman Jack Feller said he voted for the skatepark with some reluctance because of what he said was the disregard some skaters show for existing parks, littering them with cigarette butts and skating stickers and vandalizing them with graffiti.

“We just have to have some better control of the skaters who seem, for some reason, seem to be disrespectful beyond my comprehension,” Feller said.

Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said those who abuse the parks are in the minority.

“It’s probably a handful of kids that are responsible for this. The majority of kids are really into this,” Sanchez said. “It certainly is much safer to have them skate in parks, especially one as nice as this one, instead of the streets.”

The 22,700 square-foot skatepark on city-owned land on Alex Road and Foussat Road has been in the planning stages since the summer of 2006 but is just now becoming a reality thanks to a $428,000 state Land and Water Conservation Fund grant.

The Tony Hawk Foundation has kicked in $25,000 with the rest of the money coming from developer fees collected for park improvements, Mertz said.

Plans call for construction to begin in early 2013 with a goal of finishing by August or September, Mertz said.

The new park will include a huge bowl and ramps along with what skaters call a snake run and an area that mimics street skating with banks, rails and ledges, Mertz said.

Mertz said an additional skatepark is planned for El Corazon, a 465-acre former sand mine which the city plans to turn into a huge sports, commercial and hotel project with walking trails and land set aside as natural habitat.

Now, the attention will turn to downtown, where skating enthusiasts have long said a skatepark is needed.

Mertz said he’s awaiting City Council direction to begin planning for a downtown skatepark.

“These are always good projects,” Mertz said.

In an unrelated matter, the council approved changes in fees for a variety of water meter services.

Among other things, the changes would raise the fee for checking a meter for accuracy from $3 to $115 and the fee for installing a new residential meter would rise from $338 to $366.

Other meter fees, such as those for apartment complexes, would be reduced.